Here’s an idea: if we can somehow, using the power of crowdsourcing, convince Nikola Jokic that every Nuggets game is being nationally televised, we can get a triple-double out of him every game! It’s a little late in the season to go for Westbrook’s record, but if we can continue the ruse for the duration of next season, he can make history.
The easiest way I see to do that is to take all the Nuggets camera operators and replace their shirts with ones that say “ESPN” on the back. Easy! If he’s not totally convinced by that, maybe get one of the lower-tier ESPN dudes to sit at the commentator table with a microphone and have him pretend to call the game. Maybe do an interview with halftime that starts with him saying how he’s a representative of ESPN (or TNT, doesn’t matter). Actually, does it even have to be a real ESPN talking head? As long as you give me a shave and a nice suit, I could probably pretend well enough to fool him.
Remember, he’s not really thinking hard about who’s watching. It’s a subconscious thing with him, he’s focused on the game externally, but his inner mind pushes him to perform better when he knows millions are watching. So just some subtle cues about the nationally-televisedness of the game would be enough to do it.
I think this is an actionable plan. The Nuggets organization would definitely be down, even. They want to see Jokic be aggressive and put up huge numbers just like the rest of us, and they’d be happy to hear any suggestion about how to unlock his inner mamba.